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What can be said of 2020?

It’s a brand-new year and we’re all hoping that 2021 will be a better year than 2020. The past year was rough and especially cruel. Nearly all of us have lost someone dear to the coronavirus. In coming decades people will recount tales of the pandemic to grandchildren many times over. This is the year future years will be measured against. I set out to write a tongue-in-cheek review of 2020 but came to realize there’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said. Or written. So rather than repeat, I will quote. The following are light-hearted observations of the heavy year ...

Fishing just for fishing

It’s a new year and a new fishing season. Let’s think a bit about fishing and why we like to go fishing, through the ice or on open water. Let’s think just a bit. Not too much. Fishing is different things to different people. Some folks go fishing to catch a meal of fish. Others ...

What’s so special about New Year’s Eve?

For a number of years now I have not stayed up to see the New Year in. I’d rather sleep and I am led to wonder, “What’s so special about New Year’s Eve?” Oh, I didn’t start out that way. As a kid I thought it was wonderful the few times my parents let me stay up late enough to welcome the new year. No party; just stay up late. My parents were not partiers so the concept of celebrating on New Year’s Eve didn’t occur to me until I discovered that other folks did it. People have been partying on New Year’s Eve for a long time; like a 4,000-year long time. The first ...

Aggressive baits for aggressive fish

Whether we’re ice fishing or open water fishing, it’s important to try to match our bait presentation to the attitude of the fish. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out the attitude of the fish on a particular day on the body of water that you’re on. Open water or ice, many anglers ...

My, how things can change

Over the years I have often wondered what my grandfathers would say if they could see how the world has changed. My maternal grandfather died in 1965 and my paternal grandfather passed away in 1969. Both had seen the advent of the automobile and air travel. Both saw the beginnings of broadcast radio and television. They saw incredible advances in medicine, agricultural mechanization and communications. I wonder what would they think of the world in 2020. Though I still think about how my grandfathers’ worlds had changed, I am now more often thinking about how my world has ...

Keep moving for ice-fishing success

As the ice on lakes and ponds gets thicker across the ice fishing belt, our ice-fishing tactics should change for more ice fishing success. Early in the year, when the ice was thin, a more stationary approach was usually more productive. Fish under thin ice can detect movement better, and ...